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Faculty Development Awards

  

College of Liberal Arts Faculty Development Award (CLAFDA)

Purpose and scope of awards:

The College of Liberal Arts is committed to providing opportunities for the College faculty to enhance their professional standing and improve their teaching skills through research projects or creative works, whether intra-disciplinary or interdisciplinary in nature. The College of Liberal Arts Faculty Development Award (CLAFDA) seeks to provide the financial support needed for such projects that are not eligible for funding from other sources within the University. Awards will be given based on the merit and feasibility of the proposals. The project should be directly related to the applicant’s scholarly research and/or creative work agenda. Priority will be given to those proposals that are focused on launching new research or creative projects.

Eligibility and Requirements:

  • Faculty members must be full time, either on continuous appointment or eligible for such in the College of Liberal Arts.
  • Faculty members who serve on the CLAFDA committee are not eligible to submit proposals during their term on the committee.
  • Faculty members with previous successful applications are only eligible for funding of a new proposal if previously the awarded project’s final report has been completed on time. Late reports will result in making the recipient ineligible to apply for a CLAFDA for a period of one year once the report is received. 
  • Faculty members on sabbatical leave may apply for CLAFDA funding; however, they may not apply for an additional stipend.
  • Applicants who receive CLAFDA awards would be expected to remain at the university for 1 year after the award period or would need to repay the award. Exceptions may be made for faculty in their retirement sabbatical who are retiring from the university and who will not be employed by another institution.

Procedures/Policies:

  • An electronic copy of the proposal must be submitted through Cayuse 424 before 4:30 p.m., on March 1. Applications may be for the following semester and/or summer.
  • Applicants will be notified within four (4) weeks of the final submission deadline regarding the CLAFDA committee’s decision. A letter of record will be sent to the applicant, the applicant’s departmental chairperson and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
  • Recipients of awards are expected to work with the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and the USI Accounting office to establish the necessary accounting procedures. The Dean (or a designee) of the College of Liberal Arts will be the fiscal agent for the account.
  • Project extensions may be requested to the CLAFDA committee with a progress report and a rationale for the extension.
  • The CLAFDA committee will make awards twice a year with a minimum of $17,500* available per application period. The maximum amount that can be requested for any one project is $5000.
  • Any money not awarded by the CLAFDA committee will be rolled over into the next round of applications.
  • Acceptance of the award obligates the recipient to serve a two-year term on the CLAFDA committee in the future.
  • The awards are NOT intended to act as a substitute for departmental, College or university travel funds. (See travel notes below)

Reporting requirements:

Faculty members who receive a CLAFDA award will be required to submit a written final report to the Chair of the CLAFDA committee and the Dean no later than one month after the completion of the project. The report should describe how the activities and/or products of the research accomplished the stated goals of the grant. The report may also include sample papers, products, digital pictures, slides, CDs, and other supportive materials. Application assistance is available from the Office of Graduate Studies and Sponsored Research.

Travel notes:

Incidental travel that is necessary and required to acquire research data, supplies and/or equipment will be considered a normal budget expense. However, the CLAFDA Committee will not consider applications for conference travel solely to present the results of the research or creative works. 

Application Process:

  • The application should be 12-point Times New Roman font and have page numbers and the applicant’s name on all pages. It should contain the following sections:
  • A title page that includes the following information: (1) date of submission; (2) the proposal title; (3) the faculty member’s name, rank, and department; (4) student name(s) and department(s) if applicable; (5) the project starting and ending dates; (6) the funding amount requested; (7) A list of previous CLAFDA awards, including date(s), title(s), amount of award(s), and final report date(s).
  • An abstract of the project (250 words maximum). Make sure that this is written to be understood by people who are NOT experts in your field.
  • A project narrative which:
    • Indicates the significance and intellectual merit of the project. (250 words maximum) If this is a component part of a larger work, indicate the place of this project in that work.
    • Lists the goals for the project and articulates a clear plan of action for achieving them. Include a description of the methodological and/or creative approach for the project. (500 words maximum)
    • Gives a timeline of your planned work on this project, including any additional time outside of the award period or work already completed. Identify the scope and extent of work to be completed during the CLAFDA award period and its place in the overall project. This estimate should be realistic about the amount of work that can be accomplished during the award period. Bulleted lists are acceptable. (250 words maximum)
    • If the proposed project has multiple authors or investigators, specifically identify the work that will be completed by the CLAFDA applicant(s), and the place of this component in the overall project. (100 words maximum)
    • Identifies the specific outcomes for the project. Examples of viable outcomes include submission of an article in a peer-reviewed journal or an essay in a collection; a paper proposed to be presented at a scholarly conference; a monograph submitted; a creative work that will be submitted for publication, presentation, or showing in a peer reviewed venue. (100 words maximum).
  • A brief curriculum vitae showing education, degrees earned, publications, presentations, and previous grants, fellowships or awards. (2 pages maximum)
  • A budget summary (one page maximum) that includes both the expenses and outside income/project support.
    • Potential expenses include: (1) salaries, wages, and stipends (to pay someone who will assist with the project, usually a student); (2) travel costs; (3) supplies and materials; (4) equipment; (5) consultants’ fees; (6) conference and/or meeting registration fees; (7) technical services (i.e., photo services, computer services, etc.); (8) publication costs or charges.
    • CLAFDA funds may not be used to pay faculty salaries.
    • Potential sources of project support include: (1) outside private funding sources; (2) outside grants; (3) in-kind support.
  • A budget justification (one page maximum) that provides a justification for each item in your budget. Please provide adequate documentation were needed.
Application Submission Instructions
  1. Submit an intent to apply for internal grant application form no later than February 16, 2024. The form can be found on the OSPRA website: https://usisurvey.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0CHwZqIvttLwY3H

  2. Once OSPRA has received the intent to apply notice, your proposal file will be created in CAYUSE. You will be notified by email that you have been added as a user to a proposal and can start filling in the application.

  3. Access CAYUSE 424 through MyUSI on the USI website usi.edu.
    1. Use your USI credentials to log-in to myUSI
    2. Look for the CAYUSE 424 icon under USI Online Services:
    3.  
  4. Click on the icon to enter CAYUSE 424 and locate your project proposal.
  5. Complete the R&R budget in CAYUSE detailing how the grant funds will be used. See CAYUSE budget instructions on the OSPRA website at: http://www.usi.edu/ospra/cayuse-424
  6. Attach a Budget Justification (see program specific budget worksheet for details) that supports the line item budget. The budget justification should be saved as a .pdf file and attached on page three of the R&R Budget in CAYUSE, section K. An example can be found on the OSPRA website: http://www.usi.edu/ospra/internal-awards-and-grants
  7. Attach separate .pdf files to the documents section under Proposal Summary in CAYUSE. See CLAFDA Application Process section for a list of the items that need to be included in the documents section. See more explicit instructions on loading documents in Cayuse at: http://www.usi.edu/ospra/cayuse-424
  8. Submit the proposal for routing through CAYUSE 424 no later than 4:30 p.m. on March 1, 2024.

    Note: To submit your proposal you will need to approve the proposal in CAYUSE by checking the box next to your name in the routing and approval section.